PROVO — Jackson Arnold didn’t like what he saw.
With 2:07 to play on third-and-7, Oklahoma was on the brink of putting BYU away with a first down. After fielding offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby’s play call, Arnold audibled to slants. Once he received the snap, Arnold immediately looked to his right and fired a missile to junior wide receiver Jalil Farooq, who reached the sticks.
“That might not seem like much,” sophomore wide receiver Jayden Gibson said. “But for him as a freshman, to go in the game, be confident enough to check a play the offensive coordinator calls to what he thinks is best, deliver on that and get the first down to ice the game. It’s just the little things I see in him, I know he’s going to be a great player.”
Not only was the toss in a tight window, showcasing his five-star talent, but Arnold’s poise was impressive for a player playing his first meaningful college football reps.
“I knew they were gonna max out zero on us,” Arnold said as if he’d done it a million times before. “So I just checked out of it.”
At that moment. In a hostile environment. He showed why he was one of the most-hyped high school prospects in the nation last year, leading No. 14 OU (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) to a 31-24 escape of BYU (5-6, 2-6) on Saturday.
“That's all we did when he was in high school,” Rodney Webb, Arnold’s former coach at Denton Guyer, told the OU Daily following the game. “He is such a good decision maker. A kid like Jackson, you want to give him the opportunity to get out of a bad place into a good place. … A lot of that is just because the game happens so slow for him. He's got control of his breathing. He's got control of his heartbeat. He got into the correct play against that coverage and he made a bullet throw.”
Arnold, who completed five of his nine passes for 33 yards and rushed eight times for 24 yards, was forced to burn his redshirt and play the entire second half as redshirt senior quarterback Dillon Gabriel left the game after suffering a head injury. Before his first drive of the second half, Lebby picked up the phone in the coaches’ suite and relayed to Arnold he had “free reign” of the offense and to go out and play loose.
That kind of freedom is rare for true freshmen to obtain.
“I knew we were gonna get to a couple more things from a quarterback run standpoint,” Lebby said. “Wanted to still play aggressive and give him a chance to go play the game. And then we dialed back a little bit and leaned on our run game and knew he was fully capable to go execute and win the game.”
While he made a few mistakes, including a ball sailed over a wide-open redshirt freshman wide receiver Nic Anderson, which Arnold said he wishes he had back, he remained calm and collected throughout.
Where does that, as a 19-year-old, come from?
“I think it's hardwired within him,” Webb said. “I don't think it's something that you coach. I think it's something that you're born with. Todd and Sharon Arnold are tremendous parents, he was raised the right way. I think if anybody's due credit for his ability to show the poise that he showed it would be his parents.”
Redshirt sophomore defensive back Kani Walker and freshman quarterback Jackson Arnold after the game against BYU on Nov. 18.
When head coach Brent Venables announced after last week’s win over West Virginia he had decided to redshirt Arnold the rest of the season, it would’ve been easy for the young player to go through the motions in Oklahoma’s final two games.
That’s not who Arnold is, though, Venables says. And he didn’t think twice about throwing him into the fire.
“I mean, it sounds easy now,” Venables says, “But, Jackson … He's put the work in. The moment wasn't too big for him. And the players around him, they knew that too. And I told them in the locker room, it’s unfortunate for Dillon, but what a great example. You’re the backup quarterback and a true freshman, sometimes they're young and immature. Jackson's not. But it'd be easy … To not be prepared for the moment here.
“He's a winner. He's got tremendous courage and belief in himself and belief in the guys around him and trust in the system.”
On his second series, he almost fumbled a snap but coolly saved it like he saved the Sooners. After the play, however, Drake Stoops had a talk with him. One of OU’s most important leaders took Arnold to the side during a timeout and let him know he had his back and to settle in.
Arnold looked settled and showed flashes of a quarterback who has enough talent and precision to lead the Sooners into the SEC. His best play was a 15-yard scramble run, showcasing his dual-threat ability, but his arm talent is unquestionable.
During Oklahoma’s practices, you can tell when Arnold is throwing during drills.
#Sooners QB Jackson Arnold slinging it 🎯 pic.twitter.com/LO5KlgzuXE
— Colton Sulley (@colton_sulley) August 4, 2023
Gabriel’s status is up in the air, as Venables said postgame it’s possible he could return when the Sooners face TCU (5-6, 3-5) at 11 a.m. Friday in Norman. He also said, however, he hadn’t talked to anyone about it since halftime.
It’s entirely possible Arnold could play in a game that defines OU’s chances at a Big 12 Championship Game berth, barring Oklahoma State and Texas’ remaining games. Whatever the case is, come Black Friday, the Sooners know what they have in him.
“I'm extremely proud,” Webb said. “I'm not surprised. He has been an unflappable competitor since the first day I ever met him. And I can never imagine a moment being too big for him. And ideally, you would like for somebody’s first significant playing time to come in a little bit of a less competitive, less hostile situation.
“But if there's ever been a kid that has been made for that moment, it’s Jackson.”
